Background: Directive 91/439/EEC marked the start of what the European Economic Community driver's license is going to be like at some time in the future. However, differences currently exist with regard to the driver license eligibility requirements and renewal periods. This study provides the results of the physical and psychotechnical exam conducted on 606 drivers of the following characteristics: both males and females, aged between 45-70, revising the group 1 (B) license, and with a renewal period of less than 5 years.
Methods: Five years later some of these qualified drivers were examined again in order to check changes with regard to previous exam results. Results show that 86.47% were qualified the same; 12.21% were qualified with some restriction and 1.65% was unqualified.
Results: By age groups, it was found that the older the applicants, the lower the percentage of those qualified and the higher the percentage of those qualified with some restriction (in the 45-49 age range, 93.19% are qualified, while the percentage qualified in the 65-69 age group is 67.35%). Within five years time, 11.13% of the qualified drivers had made some change in their status (9.98% qualified with some restriction, 1.15% unqualified), significant differences also having been found by age groups (in the 45-49 age group, 6.8% had change in status compared to 18.1% in the 65-69 age group).
Conclusions: Therefore, differences can be said to exist between the different ages and the qualifications obtained to keep a driver's license, and a significant percentage of qualified drivers undergo some change in their eligibility within a minimum five-year period.